She smiled. He hadn’t been in his cabin much the last week.
“Do you want me to go with you?” She asked.
“Nah. You stay here. You don’t know the trails. We may need you for counseling the parents later.”
“You know I just do genetic counseling, right?”
“So you say. Are you saying you’ve never worked a couple through a crisis?”
She had worked a ton of couples through difficult times. She scrunched up her face. “Nope. I can’t say that.”
“Then stay here. Get ready.” He took her hand and pulled her to him and planted a kiss on her mouth.
“Guess we’re not keeping this a secret,” she said when he released her.
“Why would we?”
She shrugged and smiled. “Be safe out there.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
The men headed out the back door, and she watched as they disappeared into the trees.
Waiting wasn’t exactly her style. Besides, Skylar wasn’t the only one with a good nose on her.
Chapter Ten
It took Riley a bit of preparation, but she had a plan. She threw an extra set of sweats into a bag with a long strap, zipped it up, and headed out toward the trails. Once she was in a secluded area, she undressed and left her clothes piled behind a boulder.
The next part was something she hadn’t tried before, so she wasn’t sure if it would work. She put the long strap over her head and under her arm in cross-body style.
Closing her eyes, she concentrated on relaxing and allowed her body to shift into her tiger. While she was a tiger, her human thoughts were still there, but her body was strictly animal. She shook out her fur and felt the bag securely over her. Good enough.
Her human form may not know the trails, but her tiger form could figure it out.
She followed the men partway up the trail, but concentrated on finding the boy. She headed off trail long before they did. She was relying on instinct now. It was something she didn’t have a lot of practice with, living in the city, but she trusted her inner tiger and went with it.
She padded through the pine forest, watching birds rush through the crisp blue morning sky. She slipped past a little herd of elk grazing on spring grass.
Sure of foot, she climbed over rocks and went higher up the mountainside. There were patches of snow now, here and there. And the path was becoming more dangerous. She slipped easily over the rocks until she came to a clearing.
A little boy, about five, sat next to the cliff. She backed up, careful not to startle him. She heard him crying softly.
Back in the safety of the trees, she shifted back into human form, and sighed with relief that her bag of clothes was intact and hung safely over her shoulders. Shivering, she quickly unzipped it and slipped into the sweatpants and sweatshirt, then stepped into her fuzzy warm UGG boots.
Making more noise now, she approached the boy. She cupped her hands and called out his name. “William!”
She called his name again as she came to the clearing. He stood up, watching her, his face full of hope and relief. “Are you William?”
“Yes,” he said, coming toward her. Her heart lurched at his innocence. He had no idea how vulnerable he was up here.
“My name is Riley. I’m from the lodge. Are you okay?”
He nodded.
“Everyone is looking for you.”
“I think I got lost.”
Riley nodded. “I can see that.” She knelt in front of him. “William, do you believe in magic?”
“Harry Potter!” He grinned and jumped up and down.
“Yes. Like Harry Potter. You’re a long way from the trail. From your parents.”
He looked like he was going to cry again.
“But it’s okay. I can help you get back.”
He nodded.
“But you have to believe in magic, okay?”
“I believe in magic.”
“Good. Now I’m going to go back there, behind those trees, and turn into a tiger.”
“A tiger!” His eyes widened.
“Yes. And then I’m going to lie down and let you climb on my back. I want you to hold onto my fur as hard as you can. You mustn’t fall off.”
“Okay.” He bounced with excitement.
“So, you’ll get on my back and hold on while we go down the hill.”
“Okay.”
“Stay on my back until I lie down again. When I lie down again, we’ll be at the lodge so you’ll climb off. I won’t be able to talk to you while I’m a tiger.”
“That’s the rule.”
“That’s right. That’s the rule of the magic spell.”
“Okay.”
“So, you promise you’ll hold on?”
“I promise.”
“Okay, William, I’ll be right back. Don’t be scared. Because I’ll be a tiger, but it’ll be me.”
“I won’t be scared.”
“Be very brave.” She said, standing up and walking back toward the trees. After making sure he hadn’t followed, she stripped out of her clothes, tossed them in the bag, and secured it over her neck.
Then she shifted. As she came out of the clearing, his eyes widened, but he stood still. She walked slowly hoping she wouldn’t scare him. She kept her head down. When she was a few feet from him, she lay down on the ground.
William ran over and climbed on her back. She was almost too big, but he grabbed hold of her fur and scrambled up. Securely on her back, he leaned forward and fisted his hands in her fur.
She stood up slowly, but he seemed secure. She picked her way back in the direction she’d come. They went over boulders and across a little stream. An hour later, they were almost back at the lodge.
Still within the shadow of the trees, she lay down on the ground. He climbed off her back and ran toward the lodge.
Riley walked back to where she’d left her little pile of clothes. She shifted back into human form and got dressed.
With her bag of extra clothes over her shoulders, she walked back toward the lodge. She watched as William ran up the steps to the veranda and followed him inside.
A few minutes later, she heard him talking to the lady behind the counter. She was on the phone, no doubt calling Uncle Nate on the sat phone.
As she headed upstairs to shower, she smiled to herself, as she listened to William excitedly talking to the woman.
“And then there was a magic tiger, and I rode on her back all the way down the mountain.”
Chapter Eleven
Later that evening, Riley went downstairs to get something for dinner. Her shifting time had left her exhausted, and she’d napped the afternoon away. Now she was starving.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs and turned left toward the dining room, she spotted Tyler sitting in one of the guest chairs in the lobby.
He must have been watching for her because he immediately jumped up and came toward her.
He stopped right in front of her, blocking her path to the restaurant. He reached behind him and pulled out a single red rose bud. “For the Magic Tiger Princess.” He leaned in close so only she could hear.
“Magic Tiger Princess.” She echoed, taking the rose from him.
“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.” He held out a hand, and she put hers in his. “I was thinking maybe I could take you to dinner.”
“Sure. Since I was headed that way anyway.”
“Good thing my ego is intact.”
“I’m sure your ego has had plenty of fluffing up.”
He laughed as they walked toward the dining room. “When you put it like that, I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”
“Men with big egos don’t usually require compliments.”
“All men like compliments. Isn’t that right, Zaiden?”
Zaiden was Alexander Hunter’s son. Alexander was the owner of the lodge. Tyler wasn’t sure he was old enough to work, but Alexander started his children early on all aspects of the ranch.<
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“That’s right,” Zaiden said, taking two menus and leading them toward a table near the window. “Your server will be here shortly.”
After he walked away, Riley leaned over. “Is he old enough to work?”
“According to Alexander, he is.”
“I suppose you’re right. We started young.”
“Thank God for Alexander.”
She lifted an eyebrow.
“Thanks to him, we met.” Tyler clarified.
“I knew you from school. You were a junior varsity baseball player.”
“I knew you, too.”
“You did not.”
Their server appeared, and they each ordered a glass of pinot noir.
“I knew you in tenth grade before we came to work here.”
“Okay. What did you know about me?”
“Well… lots of things. But I remember specifically that you went on that field trip in tenth grade to the museum in Denver. You sat with Annabelle Morris.”
“Wow. I did sit with Annabelle. You remember her?”
“I remember the two of you, thick as thieves.”
“She moved away that summer.”
“And after that, you stayed to yourself.”
“Are you remembering this in a good way or in a she-was-kinda-weird way?”
“If I thought you were weird, I wouldn’t have asked you to the homecoming dance the next fall.”
“Okay. I believe you.”
The server brought their wine. Tyler held up his glass. “A toast.” She held up her glass next to his. “To the Magic Tiger Princess.”
Riley chuckled. And clinked her glass to his. “You guys would have found him. I just beat you to it.”
“Maybe. He was quite a ways off the path. I really don’t know how he got that far.”
“It was strange. Maybe he just started running and…” she shrugged. “You know, I had a really strange feeling out there when I found him. I kept thinking about how much danger he was in from human predators.”
“How often do you have these strange feelings?”
She thought about it. But couldn’t think of any other time that it had been that strong. “I don’t think I have. It might have just been because it was so isolated. I’m used to New York. No one is ever more than a few feet away from another person.”
“I hope that’s it. I’ve heard rumors.” He sipped his wine. Seemed to consider his words.
“What kind of rumors?”
“Rumors about some shifters having a sixth sense about things like danger.”
“Great.” She sipped her drink and sat back. “Something else to be weird about.”
“Riley.” He put his hand over hers. “You aren’t weird. I truly regret if I had any part in making you think that.”
She pulled back her hand. “No need to apologize. I’ve dealt with it. I have a career that I find fulfilling.”
“But what about your personal life? Is that fulfilling?”
“I don’t have much time for a personal life.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“So, you do? Anyone special?”
“I’ve managed to avoid attachments.”
Riley tapped her wine glass with a well-manicured finger. “What’s wrong with us?”
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with us. I think maybe, for me at least, that there’s some unfinished business.”
Riley felt the flush on her cheeks. There was unfinished business alright. “We could finish it. And then we could move on.”
Tyler took her chin, turned her face from one side to the other. “You sounded like a man for a minute.”
She scoffed. “It’s true, though, isn’t it?”
“Not always. What if we go forward with our… relationship and find out that what they say if true?”
“They say an awful lot.”
“But seriously, have you thought about me during the last ten years?”
“Of course, I have. You were my first.”
“Is that all it was?”
“You know better. We were like one.”
“I can’t think of a day that has passed in the last ten years that I haven’t thought about you.”
Riley’s pulse quickened. “That’s a good line.”
“How often does a guy get to use a line like that?”
She shook her head. This conversation was getting much too serious. “How often does a guy find out his girl is a shifter? And right after they have sex for the first time?”
“Okay. I’ll admit it was bad timing on your part. And I’ll admit that I did wonder about that. But that wasn’t exactly at the forefront of my mind. If you recall, you were my first also. So… what if they’re right?”
“Right about what, Tyler?” She couldn’t decide if she was still mad at him from all those years ago. I have to let it go. She’d thought she was over him, but seeing him again, being with him, brought all the feelings back to the forefront.
“What if shifters have only one mate? A fated mate.”
Chapter Twelve
A deer in the headlights look wasn’t exactly what he’d been going for. Surely Riley had considered this possibility.
Or did she know so little about shifters that she didn’t know that this was possible?
She looked beautiful tonight, even wearing jeans and a sweater. Probably not her typical date wardrobe. But he had ambushed her after all.
Maybe it was the glow from the lights, or maybe it was her run into the mountains today, but she was glowing.
He could see it even through her agitation with him.
“Okay.” He decided to turn things around. “Want to hear my best line?”
“Sure.” She played with her wine glass. She’d only taken one sip of the wine.
“Okay. Here goes.” He took her hand and leaned close. “Let’s go back to my place.”
She laughed. And he was relieved that the tension was broken. “And oddly enough, that probably works.”
“Maybe. Did it?”
She laughed again. But looked at him through her eyelashes. “I thought that was an example.”
He smiled to himself. “It was. But I was also serious.”
She glanced around the restaurant. There was only one other couple in the room, and they were sitting on the other side, near the door.
“I’ve had a long day. A long week.”
“I give really good back rubs. Or so I’ve been told.”
“You do realize you aren’t helping your case.”
“What?” He gave her what he hoped was a wide-eyed innocent look.
“A girl doesn’t like to know that she’s just one of many.”
He waited until she took a sip of wine to respond. “So, if we were to have babies, would they be shifters?”
She nearly tipped over her wine glass as she set it down. “I don’t know. Probably.”
“Tiger cubs.” He grinned at her.
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m not having children.”
“With me, or at all?”
“Not at all.”
“You don’t want tiger cubs?”
“No.” She was scowling at him now. She looked at him as though he’d lost his mind. “I don’t want to bring shifters into the world.”
“What’s wrong with shifters?”
“Nothing. It’s just. I live in New York. There’s no place for them to roam.”
“You could live here.”
“And do what?”
“I don’t know. Surely people need counseling here, too.”
“Genetic counseling.” She muttered, staring at the menu.
“All right.” He backed off. “Can I at least give you a back massage? You had a stressful day.”
“Maybe.” She closed her menu and looked at him. “Are you sure you can handle a Magic Tiger Princess?”
He wanted to handle her alright.
Chapter Thirteen
Tyler had her off balance. For o
ne thing, he smelled good – woodsy and fresh. She ran a finger along the rose bud in her lap. She could smell it, too, mingling with the spiciness of the wine. Today’s shifting episode had left her senses even more heightened than usual.
She shifted a little in her chair. And now he was talking about babies. Babies? She’d decided against babies. Too many genetic complications. But the thought of making a baby with Tyler had her all hot and bothered.
And he’d put an image in her head of him holding a baby – their baby. Then the baby in her head morphed into a tiger cub, taking away the allure. “What’s gotten into you?”
He shrugged. “You’ve kind of gotten under my skin.”
“That may not be a good thing.”
“I think it is.”
The server took their order and disappeared again. “Sit by the fire with me after dinner.”
He was going down a dangerous path. She’d gotten over him once. Now, seeing him, being with him, those feelings she thought were long extinguished had flamed back to life. “For a few minutes.”
“Good enough.” He put his hand on the table palm up, and she put her hand in his. His thumb caressed hers, sending all sorts of sparks through her. He put his elbow on the table and leaned forward, locking his blue eyes with hers. “Riley,” he said.
Hearing her name on his lips chipped another brick from the wall around her heart. She had nearly forgotten what it felt like to have this kind of intense emotion from a man focused exclusively on her.
“Have I told you how beautiful you are?”
She smiled back at him. She couldn’t help but to be charmed. He wore his wool baseball jacket and a roguish expression on his face.
He was no longer the gangly-but-cute teenager he’d been in high school. He was handsome and filled out in all the right places, and no doubt he had broken many hearts over the years.
She would prefer not to be one of the women who fell prey to his charms… again.
After dinner, they went into the lobby with the fireplace. There was an elderly man sleeping in one of the two chairs in front of the fireplace. Riley rubbed her hands on her arms as they went to stand in front of the fire.
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